Squatting in England usually refers to a person, not being the owner of a property, taking occupation of an empty house. People squat for a variety of reasons which include needing a home,[1] protest,[2] poverty[3] and recreation.[4] Criminal law refers to an "occupier"[5] or "trespasser",[6] and Civil Procedure Rules part 55 refer to possession claims against "trespassers".
Squatting in England may be either a civil or criminal matter depending upon circumstances,[5] and repossession by the owners, occupiers or intended occupiers may be quick or slow, and may require legal process or police action. Occupation of property is governed by the Criminal Law Act 1977 section 6 which states that forceful entry (by anyone, including the rightful owner) against the wishes of an occupier, is usually a criminal offence and those doing so may be removed by police, even if they are the legal owners.
A Crisis report published in 2011 states that 39% of the single homeless interviewed had squatted at some point.[1]
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In 1649 at Saint George's Hill, Walton-on-Thames in Surrey, Gerrard Winstanley and others calling themselves The True Levellers occupied disused common land and cultivated it collectively in the hope that their actions would inspire other poor people to follow their lead. Gerrard Winstanley stated that "the poorest man hath as true a title and just right to the land as the richest man".[7] While the True Levellers, later more commonly known as the Diggers, were perhaps not the first squatters in England, their story illustrates the heritage of squatting as a form of radical direct action.
More recently, there was a huge squatting movement involving ex-servicemen and their families following World War II. This involved thousands of people occupying sites as diverse as former military bases and luxury apartment blocks in west London.[7]
The 1960s saw the development of the Family Squatting Movement, which sought to mobilise people to take control of empty properties and use them to house homeless families from the Council Housing Waiting List. This movement was originally based in London (where Ron Bailey and Jim Radford were instrumental in helping to establish family squatting campaigns in several London boroughs), and several local Family Squatting Associations signed agreements with borough councils to use empty properties under licence (although only after some lengthy and bitter campaigns had been fought—most particularly in the Boroughs of Redbridge and Southwark).
In 1969, members of the London Street Commune squatted a mansion at 144 Piccadilly in central London to highlight the issue of homelessness but were quickly evicted.[8]
In the early 1970s, Ron Bailey and Jim Radford were closely involved in founding the Family Squatting Advisory Service, which promoted and provided information for Family Squatting Associations and direct-action Housing Campaigns. However, there was a growing conflict between the original activists of the Family Squatting Movement and a newer wave of squatters who simply rejected the right of landlords to charge rent and who believed (or claimed to) that seizing property and living rent-free was a revolutionary political act. These new-wave squatters (often young and single rather than homeless families) were a mixture of anarchists, Trotskyists—the International Marxist Group (IMG) being especially prominent—and self-proclaimed hippie dropouts, and they denounced the idea that squatters should seek to make agreements with local Councils to use empty property and that Squatting Associations should then become landlords (or Self Help Housing Associations as they were sometimes styled) in their own right and charge rent.
Local Authority Housing Departments, facing rising court costs when evicting squatters, often resort to taking out the plumbing and toilets in empty buildings to deter squatters. In the 1970s, some housing councils would attempt to deter squatters from entering their properties by "gutting" the houses, rendering them uninhabitable by pouring concrete into toilets and sinks or smashing the ceilings and staircases.
In 1979, there were estimated to be 50,000 squatters throughout Britain, with the majority (30,000) living in London.[9] There was a London's Squatters' Union in which Piers Corbyn was involved. For eighteen months, it was housed at Huntley Street, where over 150 people lived in 52 flats. The union organised festivals and provided homes for the homeless.[10]
Currently, there are a growing number of art squats in the United Kingdom. Many young artists cannot afford to rent studio or gallery space, and abandoned buildings provide them with both. Contemporary squatting in England is primarily a youth-based initiative, as artist Matthew Stone from the !WOWOW! collective in South London describes, "I was obsessed with the idea of it, but also with getting to London and being part of a dynamic group of young people doing things."[11]
According to statistics compiled by the Empty Homes Agency in 2009, the most empty homes in the UK are in Birmingham (21,532), Leeds (24,796) Liverpool (20,860) and Manchester (24,955).[12] The fewest empty homes are in South East England and East Anglia, but there are currently thousands of empty homes in London, where house prices have traditionally been higher as a percentage of the average wage than elsewhere in the UK.
In 2003, it was estimated that there were 15,000 squatters in England and Wales.[13]
In 2011, the perceived eviction of a squat in Stokes Croft in Bristol led to riots.
In London, a group called the Advisory Service for Squatters runs a volunteer service helping squatters. It publishes the Squatters' Handbook and has drafted a legal warning to be used by squatters.
The Criminal Law Act 1977 covers occupation of property at section 6. It defines "violence for securing entry" as an offence, if "(a) there is someone present on those premises at the time who is opposed to the entry which the violence is intended to secure; and (b) the person using or threatening the violence knows that that is the case."[14] The law does not distinguish for this purpose between violence to persons or property (eg. breaking a door down).
In reference to this, the occupier of the squatted building will often put up a legal warning known as a "Section 6", a copy of which is often displayed on the front door.[15] Typically this gives notice that there are people living there, claims they have a legal right to be there, and claims that anyone —even the technical owner of the property— who tries to enter the building without lawful permission is committing an offence.
In 1995 section 6.1(A) and other provisions were added, which override this and give the right of entry to "displaced residential occupiers", "protected intending occupiers" (someone who had intended to occupy the property, including some tenants, licensees and landlords who require the property for use), or someone acting on their behalf. These terms are defined in sections 12 and 12A. Such people may legally enter an occupied property even using force as the usual section 6 provision does not apply to them, and may require "any person who is on [their] premises as a trespasser" to leave. Failure to leave is a criminal offence under section 7 and removal may be enforced by police.
In 2001, the Civil Procedure Rules introduced new processes for civil repossession of property and related processes, under section 55. These include a fast track process whereby the legally rightful occupier can obtain an interim possession order (IPO) in a civil court which will enable them to enter the premises at will. Any unlawful occupiers who refuse to leave after the granting of an IPO is committing a criminal offense[16] and can then be removed by police. However some of these processes may not be available unless used within 28 days of the time that the claimant knew of the unauthorised occupancy.
Historically, there is a common law right (known as "adverse possession") to claim ownership of a dwelling after 12 years of continual unopposed occupation (10 if the land is unregistered). In practice, this can be difficult, since the squatter must prove in a court of law that he or she has occupied the building or land continuously for the whole time. For example, St Agnes Place in London had been occupied for 30 years until November 29, 2005, when Lambeth London Borough Council evicted the entire street.[17] The law of adverse possession was fundamentally altered following the passing of the Land Registration Act 2002. In effect, after 10 years of actual physical possession, a squatter must apply to the Land Registry to have their title recognised as the owner in fee simple. The original owner of the property will receive notification from the Land Registry and has the ability to defeat the application by simple objection.
In March 2011, Mike Weatherley, Conservative MP for Hove, proposed an Early Day Motion calling for the criminalisation of squatting.[18] His campaign was backed by a series of articles in the Daily Telegraph in which Kenneth Clarke (the Secretary of Justice) and Grant Shapps (Minister of Housing) were reported to be backing the move.[19][20][21]
In response, Jenny Jones, Green mayoral candidate for London, said that squatting was an "excellent thing to do".[22] Campaigners relaunched SQUASH (Squatters Action for Secure Homes) with a Parliamentary briefing chaired by John McDonnell MP. This formed a coalition between housing charities such as Shelter and Crisis, activists, lawyers and squatters.[23]
A total of 158 concerned academics, barristers and solicitors specialising in property law published a letter in the Guardian stating their concerns that "misleading" comments were being made in the mainstream media about squatting.[24] Mike Weatherley replied that “the self-proclaimed experts who signed the letter, sheep-like, have a huge vested interest when it comes to fees after all”[25] and Grant Schapps tweeted that "these lawyers are sadly out of touch".[26]
The Government opened a consultation entitled 'Options for dealing with squatters' on July 31 2011, which ran until October 5. It was "aimed at anyone affected by squatters or has experience of using the current law or procedures to get them evicted."[27] The pro-squatting campaign group SQUASH stated that there were "2,217 responses and over 90% of responses argued against taking any action on squatting."[28] Groups supporting a change in the law included the Crown Prosecution Service, Transport for London and the Property Litigation Association. Groups against a change included the Metropolitan police, squatter networks, the Law Society, homelessness charities and the National Union of Students.
Kenneth Clarke then announced an amendment to the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill which would criminalise squatting in residential buildings.[29] John McDonnell commented that “by trying to sneak this amendment through the back door the government are attempting to bypass democracy."[30]
The amendment states that "the new offence will be committed where a person is in a residential building as a trespasser having entered it as a trespasser, knows or ought to know that he or she is a trespasser and is living in the building or intends to live there for any period."[31]